Magnum

Awful_Charlie, thanks for your info and the link to the Avidyne forum. So to get the ADS-B option needs putting in a new box. As I have the TAS 620 "laying here around" other solutions (like the L3 Lynx or GTS-800) don't make economical sense, and upgrading to -A will take a long time and lots of $$$. Therefore I'll talk to Avionik Straubing about relocating the antennas to get the best performance without ADS-B. BTW: If you need a lift from Straubing to Basel, I fly severeal times from Neuhausen ob Eck (EDSN) to Straubing and back.

Thanks for the replys. @Awful_Charlie: Avionik Straubing will do my installation, too. They told me now that they often put the top antenna between the Com antennas on Mooneys, so even if it is not the best place, it seems to work quite well. Do you have the ADS-B option installed yet?

Jose, thanks for the reply. I check if the avionics shop can relocate the antenna.

Hi, I have a Ryan 9900BX TAS (Avidyne TAS 620) system here which I plan to get installed in my M20J by an avionics shop here in Germany. The installation manual says that the top antenna should be placed as much forward as possible for best performance. Unfortunately the best place is already occupied by the GA 35 GPS antenna. Does someone have a TAS installation with the antenna installed more to the tail and can say something about the performance? A possible space would be between the two COM antennas. Maybe it is possible to relocate the GPS antenna, but I am not sure if that works. Thanks for your replies, Magnus

Hello all, another M20J 205 Mooniac from Germany. I own her for seven years and still enjoy every flight. I am based at Zweibruecken (EDRZ). If you are looking for a destination you want to fly with your wife / girl friend to, come to Zweibruecken, we have a designer outlet near the airport (http://zweibrucken.thestyleoutlets.de/en). The money she saves for the clothes you can spend on gas :-)

Contact Gomolzig http://www.gomolzig.de/ they can overhaul / repair your complete exhaust system. I had mine overhauled there, great work for a good price. The flame tubes were completely burned away inside the muffler, now it is better than new.

You are right that the important part is to make sure everything is set correct, but I want to do the procedures like the way I do them when flying for real. That even means setting the cowl flaps, switching the fuel pump, adjusting mixture and prop etc. without hitting a pause button to fumble with the mouse. During my IR training it helped me a lot, I was able to concentrate on flying and scanning the instruments while setting frequencies, loading approaches etc. went automatically and only needed little attention to make sure it is set correct. Practicing the same procedures over and over again gives me the good feeling that I don't forget someting. Using a flight simulator with a "real" heading bug and course selector as well as the GNS430 makes a big difference for me.

I used the Elite simulator for my IR training together with their radio stack. The stack is compatible with FSX, but not X-plane. Unfortunately it is quite expensive. I bought the GNS430, KX155 and Heading Bug module, IMHO that's all you need to practice IFR. I installed the Carenado Mooney together with the 430 and Aspen, so I have my real panel for training. Only drawback: The Aspen doesn't display the programmed routes from the 430 and AutoCourse doesn't work. Additional hardware is a Precision Flight Controls stick, Saitek engine controls, Rudder padels and switch panel. Especially the engine controls are worth the money. http://www.flyelite.ch/en/products/hardware_avionics.php http://flypfc.com/?/products/yokes/cirrus-mooney-yoke/ http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/tpm.html http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/switch.html http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=fsaspen http://www.reality-xp.com/flightsim/gns430/index.html Edit: I just saw that the Elite modules are cheaper now, the GNS430 is US$380,-. With the heading bug module it is US$ 630,- total.

Same procedure here. I once had low fuel pressure during takeoff in a Warrior with the electrical fuel pump on. Fortunately my brother was flying with me, he is a IA. He took care of the engine and I concentrated on flying. There were no nice emergency landing fields around and we were able to keep the engine alive until landing. With the electrical fuel pump off the engine would have died. As the primer tube had a leak I don't know if switching the pump on AFTER the engine died would have helped to start it again. I ALWAYS have the pump on during take-off and landing, no matter how much the overhaul costs.

It is an easy fix at the prop governor, there is an adjustment screw for full rpm. But check the tach first.

In my J the light illuminates together with the gear down light in the annunciator panel.

The best way to make sure it is REALLY down. We had a gear up landing of a Mooney at my field some years ago. The pilot said that he put the gear switch down and that the gear down light was on. We put it on jacks, cycled the gear for more than 50 times. Everything worked fine and we thought it was an excuse for forgetting to put it down. We cycled it again, gear switch on down position, green light came on and the gear stayed up. The gear down micro switch didn't work and the pilots reputation was restored. What he didn't know was that there is the mechanical indication on the floor. The bulb was burned and he never looked down.

A good point, the gear down AND the gear unsafe warning light go to this breaker. So if the breaker is popped, you don't get any warning. OTOH the light came on later in this case.

I *think* there was a wrong part number in the parts catalogue for some Mooneys. IMHO it was a 24V bulb for a 12V system, but I am not quite sure. With the wrong bulb installed you can't see the light. Even in bright daylight I can see if it is on or not. Edit: Unfortunately the search function doesn't seem to work with old posts, I think there was a discussion about this some years ago.

There are two gear down lights: One in the annunciator panel, and one behind the sight between the seats. Were both not working? Then I'd suggest a problem with the gear down switch, it is a changeover switch. It opened for the gear unsafe warning (and stopped the gear motor), but didn't close for the gear down light.